He Never Knew What She Did for Him
by Ketsui Tasogare
Summary: Sakura is finally moving on with her life until something or rather someone from the past returns and opens old wounds and makes her relive past experiences.
1. Chapter 1

He Never Knew What She Did for Him

Sakura is finally moving on with her life until something or rather someone from the past returns and opens old wounds and makes her relive past experiences.

Disclaimer: None the characters from Naruto, _quotes_ from Naruto or the show Naruto itself belong to me, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. All I own is the OC Shujimetsu Masekoto

Chapter one: Their Lives

He never knew what she did for him. When Sasuke left the village two and a half years ago, her world fell apart. Now she is 16 and promoted to the rank of Chunin.

It was a cold and rainy day in the Village Hidden in the Leaves; Sakura sat on her rose tinted duvet and held the photo of her, Kakashi sensei, Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke had no emotion what so ever in the picture, but Naruto on the other hand, glared so hard at Sasuke that he didn't even notice that the picture was taken. She loved that photo. She looked at her smiling face, she couldn't remember the last time she had been that happy and wished she could go back to those days, when squad 7 was still together and Sasuke was still around. She did everything she could to stop him. She begged and pleaded for him to stay only to be given the cold shoulder. After he left, she tracked after him to try and bring him home. She loved him and would always love him, that is why she had put her life in danger countless times just for the smallest hope of seeing him again. She would die for him and almost had died for him, she thought about him everyday and the slightest mention of his name brought her to depression. She really felt tormented and the only person who understood was Naruto, for he too was Sasuke's friend and teammate along with Sakura. She suddenly remembered a conversation she had had with Sasuke a few years ago when they sat together on a bench near the academy.

" _Sakura I want to ask you something… Naruto, what do you think of him?"_

" _He knows about my feelings, and purposely gets in the way. It's almost like he enjoys interfering and making me feel bad. In spite what he says he doesn't understand one single thing about me, he's just annoying."_

That opinion of Naruto had changed drastically over the years, in fact nobody understood her better than Naruto. Another memory popped up in her head, it was the day Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba left on their mission to retrieve Sasuke, when she cried to Naruto to bring Sasuke back to her.

" _Naruto, thank you so much…more than anyone else, he's always understood me, he's always been there when I needed help, Naruto."_ Her relationship with Naruto had really developed those past two and a half years.

Naruto felt how the weather looked, so he decided to go visit his friend and teammate Sakura. When he arrived at her window, he knocked twice and waited for her. The jade-eyed Chunin opened and let him in. They didn't need to talk to each other to know how they were feeling; it was a skill they'd picked up from each other over the years. They sat in silence on the edge of Sakura's bed embraced in each other's arms, although not romantically, in more of a consoling way. She rested her head against his chest and listened to the rhythm of his heartbeat, as she sobbed silently into his orange and black jacket. Naruto sat with his eyes closed, and gently stroked her back with a small grin on his face, as he knew she thought exactly what he had thought about-Sasuke-. He wished that this moment would last forever, that she would be his forever, but Naruto knew the truth, he knew that she loved Sasuke, but he was glad that he could have this moment alone with her. He could see this side of her that no one else got to see.

Sasuke sat on the lightly coloured grass with his eyes closed on the training fields with the wind that played with his hair; he took a break from training with Orochimaru. He was lost in deep thought, he reminisced about the past; what he did to get to where he was and the people he had left behind. He didn't feel guilty about leaving them behind, he simply thought about them. He remembered the day he left Konoha, like it had happened yesterday, the thoughts rushed back into his mind as though they were scenes from a movie. Sakura cried desperately and yelled for him to stay, and the few words he said her during his days on squad 7. The second last words he said to her " _You haven't changed… you're still annoying._ " The last thing he remembered was the huge fight he had had with Naruto in which Naruto almost died.

The reason Sasuke was with Orochimaru was because he wanted to get strong enough to get revenge on his older brother Itachi who murdered their entire clan. Sasuke was only 9 at the time. He used to look up to his brother but ever since the Uchiha clan massacre Sasuke hated his brother for taking his family from him. In a way Sasuke was tormented himself. He lost the warmth of his mother's touch at the time he needed it the most. He was a child who struggled and suffered, forced to walk the difficult path alone, called life. Along the way he lost his will to go on, he couldn't see anything enjoyable about life. Sasuke didn't live anymore he simply survived. That was until he met Naruto and Sakura. They meant more to him than he admitted to himself.

" _I knew it. I'm not the same as you; I'm travelling a path the rest of you can't follow. I know that the four of us worked together, and for a while I thought I could take that road instead, but in the end I decided on revenge. That's always been my reason for living; I'll never be like you and Naruto."_ Just when Sasuke thought he could move on with his life and his teammates, Itachi came back into his life and re-opened old wounds from the past which resulted in Sasuke's departure. Sasuke shook off his feelings of sorrow and decided to take a walk in the forest. Walking was the best way for Sasuke to clear his mind, a habit he got used to, after he completed missions with his former teammates. He walked down a familiar stone path that led into the thick green forest, for this was his first training area with his snake-like sensei. He ran his fingers over a completely charred Oak tree or what was left of it. That tree was the victim of his Fire ball jutsu. Sasuke thought about his previous teammates again and couldn't stop a certain memory that crept into his thoughts…

" _Don't leave me…if you go, I'll scream and_ …" were the last words she said to him, before he concluded with " _Sakura…thank you for everything."_ Afterwards he knocked her out, placed her on a bench and left for good. Sasuke came back to reality and realised that he had been walking for over an hour so he turned around and headed back to the hideout.

As the years went by Sasuke became a formidable opponent. There were so many things that Sasuke knew like he still cared for his teammates. He knew vast amounts of ninjutsu and he was a prodigy at genjutsu. His Chidori and taijutsu were impeccable, but there was one thing Sasuke would never know…he would never know how much _she_ did for him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Anniversary**

The weather in the village hadn't gotten any better; in fact it had gotten worse. The thick grey Nimbostratus cloud that hovered over Konoha brought endless rain for five days in a row. Sakura stood on the balcony under the Hokage Mountain overlooking the village with an umbrella in hand. She didn't think of anything specific, she just stared into space as the loud rain poured around her.

She had been at the Hokage Mountain since early that morning. Her alone time was interrupted as somebody stood on the railing of the balcony. It was Naruto and he didn't have an umbrella with him. Her mood seemed to drop as she saw him, not that she tried to avoid him; but with that day being the day it was, she just wanted to be alone.

"Hey, Sakura are you alright?"

"I don't know, I mean today is…" she couldn't finish her sentence, but Naruto knew what she wanted to say because it applied to him as well. Naruto got wetter as each minute passed, so Sakura told him to get under the umbrella with her.

"Do you think he'll ever come back, Naruto?" That question caught him completely off guard; he didn't know how to answer her. "I don't know Sakura, I mean it was exactly two and a half years ago today that he left. He might not come back at all." She half-heartedly smiled at him.

"That's exactly what I thought." She walked out from under the umbrella and rested her arms on the rails and just looked down at the village. Naruto walked towards her and put his arm around her shoulder, she immediately leaned into him as they listened to the rain in silence and heard soft sounds of thunder in the distance. Naruto could tell she tried her hardest not to cry in front of him, he smiled at her efforts and pulled her a little closer.

"You know you can cry in front of me Sakura." She looked up at him and smiled.

"I think I've done enough of that." Naruto could see the pain evident in her jade eyes, she really missed Sasuke, and still cared about him in the same way Naruto cared about her. He only wished she felt the same way about him. As they stared at each other they leaned in, closer and closer until their lips met. Sakura put her arms around his neck and Naruto put his arms around her waist. As they kissed Naruto couldn't enjoy it as much as he had wanted to because a certain memory played in his head.

" _Well gosh Sakura, you must really care about Sasuke huh? I get it; I see that deep down it must be really painful for you. I know you must be suffering."_ The truth was that they didn't kiss because they were a couple, they didn't know exactly why they kissed, but they did. Naruto knew she didn't kiss him because she returned his feeling of affection, but simply because it was in the moment. The kiss was more for Naruto than for Sakura, it meant more to him than it did to her and because of that he pulled her a little closer. What seemed like a kiss for eternity only lasted about 30 seconds. After they separated Sakura turned away from Naruto, she tried to conceal her red cheeks.

"I need to go Naruto, I'll see you later." Before Naruto could even say a word she disappeared in cloud of smoke.

She sipped her hot chocolate, as she watched the rain fall from her seat in the warm café. Just as the Hyuuga heiress stood up to get some more sugar for her hot beverage, she spotted her friend and crush Naruto. He spotted her as well as he walked her way.

"Hey Hinata, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, hi Naruto I was just having some hot chocolate. W-would you like to j-join me?" she stuttered and tried not to make eye contact.

"Sure" They walked back to her table and sat down together, and enjoyed their warm drinks.

"Naruto, is Sakura alright, she seems a little down today."

"She looks okay, but I know she isn't and I can't get her to talk about it." he replied

"Well I guess it was to be expected, I mean today is the anniversary isn't it?"

"Yeah, but all she does is stay in her room or go somewhere high up and think about Sasuke."

"Maybe a night out could do her some good. Me, Tenten, Ino, Neji and Shikamaru were planning on going to dinner tonight, you should bring Sakura along."

"Hinata that's a great idea, I guess I'll see you there. He gulped down the last of his hot chocolate and left the café, headed to Sakura's house.

The sun had set and the cold air of the evening had arrived. The streets of Konoha were lit up and flooded with people, some walked home with umbrellas and others went into restaurants and shops. The noise that buzzed around the streets slightly comforted Naruto. It relaxed him to see how people carried on with their lives. The overall mood had been lively despite the bad weather. The rain had become less and it became a lot easier to walk down the street. Naruto waited for Sakura to open the door, after he knocked. His pastel pink-haired teammate greeted him warmly and invited him in.

"Hey Sakura the others and I were planning on going to dinner tonight. We wanted to catch up because everyone has been busy with missions."

"Thank you for the invite Naruto but I think I'll pass. I just want to be on my own tonight." She walked past him and stood by the window with her back to him.

"C'mon Sakura, some time out with our friends would be good for the both of us. You can't stay in your room forever."

"I know but I just wanna take a shower and go to bed. You should go and enjoy yourself, I'll be fine okay."

"Okay if you're sure." He turned around and headed for the door. He twisted the door knob and took a step out. Before he left he turned and looked at Sakura before he closed the door behind him.

20:00 arrived, the rain had stopped completely and Naruto walked with Hinata to the restaurant. Apparently a dress code had been decided. Naruto wore navy jeans, a crisp white shirt tucked in with the first two buttons undone and a black blazer. Hinata wore her hair up in a messy bun with a few strands of hair that hung around her face. She wore a navy and white mandarin collared dress without sleeves. The dress was perfectly fitted and accentuated her curves. She looked phenomenal.

"Naruto, I thought you were bringing Sakura with you."

"I tried to but she wanted to stay home and go to bed early. She's probably asleep right now." They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Sakura got into the shower and let the hot water beat down on her skin. She stood in place and allowed the water to wash the events of the day off her body. After 15 minutes in the shower, she stepped out of the warm glass cubicle and into the steam filled bathroom. She wrapped one towel around her body and another around her wet hair. She walked out of the bathroom and to her cupboard to change into her red silk pyjama dress. She placed her headband on her dark chocolate dressing table. Before she went to bed she looked at herself in her full length mirror…

Her eyes widened in shock as she saw a figure that sat in her chair next to the window. She slowly turned around to face the mysterious person. The lights were dim so she only made out the persons figure and eyes, but she knew exactly who it was. Her heart raced in her chest as she stared at the person, unblinking.

"Sakura" he said in his usual monotonous tone. The tone she had not heard in two and a half years.

"S-Sasuke"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Confused by his presence

RECAP:

 _Before she went to bed she looked at herself in her full length mirror. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw a figure that sat in her chair next to the window. She slowly turned around to face the mysterious person. The lights were dim so she only made out the persons figure and eyes, but she knew exactly who it was. Her heart raced in her chest as she stared at the person, unblinking._

" _Sakura" he said in his usual monotonous tone. The tone she had not heard in two and a half years._ _"S-Sasuke"_

She didn't know what to say to him. It had been almost 3 years since they had seen each other.

"How long have you been here?" she asked rather unpleasantly.

"I didn't see you come out of the shower, if that's what you're asking."

"I meant, how long have you been back in the village?" she asked as she looked away and blushed, surprised by Sasuke's words.

"I just got back." Why would Sasuke come to her first and act as if nothing had happened between them in the past? Sakura just couldn't understand.

"What do you want? As you could see, I was about to go to sleep." She unkindly stated. He stood up from the chair and walked towards her. He stopped a little too close for her liking. He simply stared into her jade eyes that he hadn't seen in almost 3 years. He made her feel unusual; she couldn't describe what she felt. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest if he moved any closer, then he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She froze at his touch. All of a sudden his lips collided with hers and luckily he had her against the wall so she couldn't move. Sakura stood in place too surprised to move. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Eventually she closed her eyes and put her arms around his neck. She leaned into the kiss; she enjoyed the feeling of his lips against hers. Their kiss was passionate. Both craved the others lips. Sakura felt a surge of electricity shoot through her body as Sasuke kissed her.

Sakura suddenly came to her senses and pushed him off and got angry.

"What the hell do think you're doing, surprise kissing me like that?"

"You kissed back."

"I know I did, but if this is some kind of trick to get me to forget everything that happened these past two and a half years it's not going to work. I think you should leave." Sasuke didn't say a word; he just stared at her and could see she had been completely serious. He took one last look at her before he disappeared into the darkness of night in the blink of an eye. Sakura fell to her knees; the events of that evening had been too much for her.

The next day had the best weather of that entire week. There hadn't been a single cloud in the sky and the sun shone. It was as though the rain of just two days prior had never happened, although everything was still wet and there had been a biting cold wind. Naruto and Sakura sat at Ichiraku's for lunch. There had been an uncomfortable silence between them. Sakura thought about what had happened the previous night with Sasuke.

"Sakura is everything okay, you seem a little distracted."

"Actually Naruto, everything isn't okay. Sasuke's back in the village and he came to my room last night." In all seriousness Naruto almost choked on his barbecue-pork ramen. To say the news had surprised him was an understatement.

"Sasuke's back in the village, are you sure?"

"Well considering the fact that he kissed me, I would say yes I am very sure."

" _He kissed her."_ He thought in his head and felt his heart sink slightly.

After Sakura and Naruto had lunch, Sakura went for a walk around the village. She ended up at the bench where she had tried to stop Sasuke from leaving all those years ago. She laid down on the bench and just looked up at the sky. Someone had followed her.

"What do you want now?" she asked irritably.

"I just want to talk to you." he answered as he casually leaned against a tree opposite the bench.

"Well I don't want to talk to you. Now please just leave me alone, Sasuke."

"Listen Sakura-"

"No, you listen Sasuke. There is no apology you can say to me to get me to forgive you." she got off the bench and slowly walked away.

"Are you really going to act like this?" She stopped in her tracks, she was furious. How dare he get angry at her after all the trouble he had caused?

"You're just going to walk away from me. You're not even going to try to fix this." Her level of patience decreased, with each word he spoke. "What happened to the old Sakura, she wouldn't have given up this easily." She had reached her limit.

"SHUT UP SASUKE!" she screamed as she threw a kunai knife that just missed his face and sliced a single strand of hair then penetrated the tree behind him.

"You don't know anything about me anymore! You don't know what I went through trying to get you back!" Sasuke stared in shock; Sakura had never raised her voice at him like that nor had she ever tried to hurt him. She left him there as she walked away. Sasuke tired her out, he emotionally drained her and she couldn't keep up anymore.

Xxx

Naruto gazed out of his window and thought about what Sakura had said about Sasuke. He turned around and faced the person that stood in his doorway.

"So, you really are back after all." Naruto stated.

"I need to talk to you."

"About Sakura?" Naruto raised an eyebrow

"I need you to talk to her. You need to get her to forgive me."

"And why would I do that. She was doing so well without you around these past two and a half years. Then you decide to come back and confuse her again. We finally began moving on Sasuke."

"Oh please Naruto, you know that Sakura has always had feelings for me. You and I both know that she needs me in order to be happy."

"I'm not telling her anything if it means you hurting her again. I wouldn't do that to her."

"Wow, so you do still have feelings for her like I thought. You should know that she'll never be happy with you Naruto. As much as you care about her, and want to protect her there is one thing you can never change about her."

"And what is that?!" Naruto shot back.

"Her feelings for me." Naruto's eyes widened in surprise; he had never seen Sasuke this persistent in pursuing Sakura. He had a point though, as close as Naruto and Sakura were, she still loved Sasuke. She always thought about him and he always came up in their conversations. Sasuke smirked as he knew he had won the battle. He left the room without a single word.

The sunny day hadn't lasted long as Cumulonimbus storm clouds rolled in and devoured the last rays of sunlight. It drizzled for a while until it rained hard and hail crystals fell from the sky. Thunder and lightning accompanied the storm. Sakura went over to Naruto's place to visit. They sat at the kitchen table and talked and had tea.

"Sakura what exactly did Sasuke say to you when he came back?"

"He didn't say much when he was in my room, but earlier today he pretty much yelled at me for not forgiving him."

"What did you do after he said that?"

"I threw a kunai at him and lost my temper." Sakura took a sip of her tea.

"Do you think you'll ever forgive him Sakura? I mean you can't stay mad at him forever."

"I don't know if I will. Aren't you still mad at him Naruto, I mean look at all that's happened. How many times have we almost died for him?"

"I know but he's still our teammate and friend."

"I know he is, but where does he get off yelling at his friends like that. He doesn't even deserve us."

Their conversation slowly turned into an argument. "I get what you mean Sakura, but I think you're acting a little irrationally. Just a few days ago you were talking about him coming back and crying because you missed him, and now that he's back you can't even be with him for more than a few minutes."

"If I forgive him now, he's just going to hurt me again. I know he will!" she yelled back.

"I don't think it's about that Sakura, I think you're still angry at yourself for not being strong enough to stop him. If you had stopped him you wouldn't be in this situation right now!" Sakura couldn't believe what she had just heard; Naruto had never said anything like that to her.

"Excuse me, who did I ask to bring him back for me, oh yeah, I asked you. You failed just as badly, if not worse, Naruto!"

"All I'm saying is that you should forgive Sasuke!"

"And why should I do that?!"

"Because you still love him!" -Silence- Naruto's words stung the both of them. It had hurt Naruto to say those truthful words when he still had feelings for Sakura, and Sakura knew it hurt him to say it. She looked away from him and continued to speak in a low voice. "I'm surprised at you Naruto. I thought you would be happy that I'm mad at Sasuke, this way you wouldn't lose me to him." He stood up from his chair and sat next to her and put his arm around her. A single tear slid down her cheek.

"C'mon Sakura you know I'm not like that. I just want you to be happy."

She sighed. "I know. I'm sorry." She said as she leaned into him. "I'm just so confused by his presence."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Decisions**

Sakura woke up, well rested and ready to go. She did her usual morning routine and walked out of her house at 08:00. While she walked down the street she tried to clear things out in her mind. She still had feelings for Sasuke but she also cared for Naruto, but not in the same way. She had to be careful not to mix the two up. She cared for Naruto in a sibling kind of way but she didn't know how to approach the topic when she was with Naruto because she tried to spare his feelings. So she kept quiet about it, that very silence might have caused Naruto to think that she felt the same way about him as he did for her. In a way she felt guilty about it like she had led Naruto on.

On the other hand she was still angry at Sasuke but she also wasn't angry at Sasuke and was very happy to see him. She loved to spend time with them individually and she had kissed the both of them and enjoyed their kisses. Her kiss with Naruto was short, sweet and simple while her kiss with Sasuke was a lot more emotional and passionate. The problem was that neither of them knew that she had kissed the both of them. She couldn't be anymore confused. She met up with her pearly eyed friend Hinata for breakfast at the same café Hinata had hot chocolate with Naruto. As they waited for their breakfast to arrive, Sakura couldn't get Sasuke out of her head and decided to distract herself with a conversation with Hinata.

"Hinata, can I tell you something kind of personal?"

"Is it about Sasuke?" How did she know? She didn't give any hints as to what the topic would be about. Sakura looked surprised. Hinata could tell that the topic was uncomfortable for Sakura to talk about.

"Yeah, it's about him. I just don't know what to do. Part of me wants him to feel bad and suffer for what he did, the same way I did. But the other part of me wants to smack myself for even thinking such thing and just kiss him. What should I do Hinata?"

"That's love Sakura; you wouldn't want him to suffer because of your feelings for him. Hurting him would ultimately hurt you because you love him. In terms of what you should do, I think you should at least talk to him and make a decision to forgive him or not. Just know that not forgiving him would be a choice, so if you lost him again you can't say you never had an opportunity to have him by your side. Not having him back then when he was emotionless and left the village was torture for you. Imagine what it would feel like now that he's back and changed." What Hinata had said made a lot of sense to Sakura. Her words really helped her gain some clarity on the situation.

"You know Hinata; you should really take your own advice." The waitress arrived with their breakfast and placed their plates on the table.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you know all this stuff about love and feelings but you haven't said anything to Naruto."

"I can't tell this to Naruto, it's too difficult to speak to him about my feelings and besides he still has feelings for you."

That made everything awkward. Suddenly Sakura felt like the bad guy, she stood in the way of Hinata's happiness. The two kunoichi finished their conversation and ate their breakfast.

Later that afternoon, Hinata took a walk around the training grounds and watched Naruto do target practise with shuriken. He practised for a while until he noticed Hinata.

"Hey Hinata, did you talk to Sakura like I asked?"

"Yes, I spoke to her over breakfast this morning."

"Great, I think she'll take your advice. It's for the best that those two end up together." Hinata could tell Naruto was sad.

"Naruto I thought you still liked her."

"I do, but her happiness is more important than mine. I won't let my feelings for her get in the way of that." Hinata was so surprised by Naruto; he wasn't that goofy little kid anymore, he had really matured. The sound of his voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hinata I'm done with my training for the day, so do you wanna go for a walk around the village?" Hinata couldn't think of anything better to do.

"I'd love to Naruto."

Naruto and Hinata walked around the village talking and laughing. Naruto did most of the talking of course, Hinata just listened. The happy pair earned a reasonable amount of stares from the people who walked past. They mistook them for a couple, but a few days earlier Naruto had been spotted outside Sakura's house and just a few hours later he had been walking to a restaurant with Hinata. Both dressed in formal wear. Naruto noticed that his mood had improved since he had been with Hinata. Neither of them noticed that they had been walking closer together until their hands brushed against each other. They both looked down at their hands, then at each other.

They both blushed, but leaned in anyway. Their faces got closer until…

"Hey guys." Sakura had interrupted them. "What are you up to?" She enquired with an implying smirk and cocked eyebrow directed their way.

"Nothing! Nothing! Have you talked to Sasuke yet?" he tried to change the subject.

"I was on my to see him right now, but I thought I'd come and say hi, on my way over." Her face still looked amused as she knew they both felt uncomfortable.

"Well I guess I'd better get going, see you later." She gave them one last look before she turned around and left. They stood in silence for a while as they watched Sakura's retreating back until eventually they recovered and continued their adventure around the village.

The coolness of night had arrived. Naruto and Hinata took their walk to an empty field. They sat down on the short grass and took in their surroundings. The mild breeze that swept past them and the crickets sounded in the background. They heard the soft gurgling of a nearby river and viewed the endless hills of green in front of them. They gazed at the night time sky, littered with stars. They took in the fresh air the evening had to offer. The young Hyuuga slowly leaned into Naruto and closed her eyes with a small smile on her face.

"Thank you Naruto." She whispered

"For what?"

"For being you." He never understood what she meant by that but chose not to question her about it. He didn't feel like talking, he wanted to enjoy spending time with her in silence. He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head before he closed his eyes and smiled, as he listened to the evening sounds with his friend.

Sakura walked up the stairs to get to Sasuke's room. She turned right and walked down the lit passage. She stood in front of his door and wondered whether she should talk to him or not and decided to knock. Before her hand even reached the door however it already opened and Sasuke stood on the other side as though he expected her.

"Can I talk to you?" She almost whispered. Sakura took his silence as a 'yes' as he stood aside and gestured for her to come in. She walked into his room and was pleasantly surprised at how neat it was. She stood in front of his mahogany study desk and stared at the photo frame that contained the exact photo that sat in her room. He still had it after all. Sakura thought he would have thrown that photo away the day that he left.

"So I thought you wanted to talk." He spoke up as he took a seat on his bed.

"Yeah…um about us. Well, I guess you could say I got some sense knocked into me. As much as I want to be angry with you for what happened, I just can't. I still have feelings for you Sasuke. Losing you the first time was out of my control…" She began to cry so Sasuke walked to her and took her hands. She looked up at him. "I wouldn't want to put myself through the heartache of losing you a second time especially when-" He interrupted her with a passionate kiss. She continued to cry as she kissed him back and held him a little tighter. The two kissed for a while before they separated. He held her in his arms as she continued to cry and didn't want to let her go. He didn't want to lose her again either.

"I'm so sorry for what I put you through."

"I know you are." She whispered to him. Sasuke and Sakura were together. Both refused to lose each other. They would gladly put their lives on the line if it meant they could save the other person.

Sakura kissed Sasuke on the cheek before she left. On her way home she thought about what Hinata and Naruto had told her. They were right after all; she had felt a lot happier now that she had Sasuke back. She only wished she could get Naruto and Hinata together.

She had no idea that that had already started. Slowly but surely Naruto and Hinata would end up together. She knew she had made the right decision to forgive Sasuke. As she climbed into her soft woollen blankets, she looked at the photo of three of them, one last time before she went to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Mission**

The sun had been brutal that day. Sakura sighed from exhaustion as she wiped the beads of sweat from her face. Their journey to the land of tea would be anything but fun. Lady Tsunade had briefed them about their mission two hours ago.

" _Team Kakashi, your mission is to go to the land of tea and stop a rogue ninja from the village hidden in the rain. He left his village two weeks ago and has been wiping out small towns and villages." Lady Tsunade informed them_

" _Why has it taken someone so long to report this?" Sakura asked_

" _Because Sakura, this person was the first survivor out of all the villages he's wiped out. This rogue ninjas name is Shujimetsu Masekoto; he calls himself 'deaths cloak'. His next target is a small village on the border of the land tea. You three need to take him out before he reaches the village. Unfortunately Kakashi hasn't returned from his mission, so the three of you will be going on your own. Sakura, I'm putting you in charge of this mission. I'm trusting you three to handle this mission on your own. Dismissed."_

The afternoon sun was at its harshest. There were no clouds to provide any shade for the exhausted trio. Sakura's eye lids began to droop until she lost visibility completely and fell forward. She waited for the impact of the impact of the ground to arrive but it never did. Sasuke caught her before she hit the ground.

"Sakura are you alright?" She slowly opened her eyes to both of her male teammates as they looked at her with concerned eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine guys. I'm just a little tired, sorry." Naruto went to get Sakura some water. Sakura hadn't noticed that she had been sitting in Sasuke's lap resting on his chest. She smiled as she felt him rest his chin on her head.

"I thought I was supposed to the one resting and recovering." She spoke with her eyes closed.

"You are but nobody said that I couldn't, especially when I have you in my lap." He replied before he kissed her on the cheek and held her in a tight hug. Sakura couldn't help but smile at Sasuke's actions. After Naruto returned and the team got some rest; they carried on walking and made camp in a cave as night took over.

"We should reach the village tomorrow afternoon. When we get there we can decide how to deal with the rogue ninja. We should get some rest." Sakura addressed her teammates

" _You haven't changed…you're still annoying…did you honestly think that I would want you…I don't love you and I never will, Sakura. The reason why this team isn't as good as it could be is because of you Sakura, you always held us back…you could have stopped me from leaving if you were strong enough" Sasuke half yelled_

" _-I tried"_

" _But you're weak…nothing but a weak ninja."_

" _I'm not a weak ninja" Sakura yelled back_

" _Sakura, you were never any help on missions; you're nothing but dead weight. How many times have I almost died trying to save you?" Naruto spoke up_

Sakura woke up from her dream and breathed heavily as she tried to slow down her heart that raced in her chest; her face was drenched in sweat. Tears escaped her eyes as she clutched onto her shirt. She tried to move but couldn't. Her body was somewhat restricted; she looked to her side and saw that Sasuke had his arm around her. She smiled at him; he looked so peaceful when he was asleep. She moved in a little closer and kissed his forehead. His arm around her comforted her as she tried to clear her mind.

The next morning had arrived too quickly for Sakura, she barely got any sleep. Naruto had just finished his breakfast and looked at Sakura.

"Naruto, what's the matter?"

"Nothing… it's just, are you happy with Sasuke?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I'm happy."

"I think you misunderstood me Sakura. You didn't answer my question. I didn't ask you if you were happy, I asked you if you were happy with Sasuke." She honestly couldn't answer him; she didn't know the answer herself. She had to be happy right; she had wanted to be with Sasuke for years. Just as she was about to answer him, Sasuke walked back into the cave with water. He sat next to Sakura and put his arm around her. Sakura felt slightly uncomfortable because of the conversation she had with Naruto. Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. The team gathered up their things and headed out. The trip to the village was a lot better than yesterday.

Xxx

Team Kakashi successfully arrived at the village in the late afternoon. The village was completely deserted as the villagers had been warned about the rogue ninja, and had been evacuated.

"Alright guys, now that we've reached Unzen village we need to figure how to deal with this ninja." Sakura remembered the briefing Lady Tsunade gave them.

" _Shujimetsu Masekoto is a ninja who specialises in poison ninjutsu. Not only is he immune to it but he can also change its density with his chakra. So he can use it in solid, liquid and in gaseous form. He is the best of his clan, so you'll need to be extra careful."_

"Why don't we use poison-detection tags?" Suggested Sasuke

"Poison detection tags, what are those?" Naruto asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Oh Naruto, they're special tags created by the ANBU that detect all forms of poison; analyse it and detonate when poison has made contact. They're good for covert missions; you could know what poison your opponent will use along with its properties before they've even found you. Those would be perfect; all we need to do is place those on the gates of the village and hide on the opposite end of the village. By the rules of diffusion we should know about his poison cloud long before it reaches us." She explained

"But wait if the tags explode; wont that put him on his guard?" Naruto asked as he looked confused

"If we were using the old tags then yes, but luckily thanks to the new tags Lady Tsunade gave me they won't explode they'll just glow a bright red. And when those ones glow so will the ones we keep with us."

"Perfect, sounds like a plan. Let's do it!" Naruto yelled

The team spread out and put the poison-detecting tags on all four corners of the village. They concentrated most of the tags in the front of the village. As Sakura put the last few tags on the gate of the village she couldn't get the plan out of her head. She thought about the after results of her idea and couldn't help but think that she had made a mistake.

As nightfall approached, the team stayed in one of the inns in the south of the village. Naruto and Sasuke were already asleep. Sakura stared at the ceiling in her room; she wasn't tired in the slightest.

" _Lady Tsunade, why is Shujimetsu doing this; what's his motive? Sakura asked_

" _Well it was his idea to use this new poison ninjutsu in different phases on opponents and started testing it out on children. When the elders of his clan decided it was too brutal to use in battle and refused his idea and tried to have him arrested for experimenting with poison on children; he escaped from his clan area and village. Now he's trying to prove to his clan that his idea should be reconsidered by wiping out every village he passes."_ Sakura got out of her blankets and walked to the window and just gazed into the endless night sky. She hadn't noticed that the poison-detecting tag had turned red. Shujimetsu had arrived.

"Sakura, the tags are red, he's here!" Naruto yelled as he burst through her door. She had completely forgotten about the tags. She had been so careless. Sasuke walked into the room and went straight to the window and saw a giant violet cloud slowly approaching them. Team Kakashi ran outside to face the rogue ninja.

"Quickly guys, stick a tag on your arm, so the poison doesn't affect you!" Sakura yelled. Naruto and Sasuke did as she ordered and place the tags on their arms. They felt the cloud pass by them but were still able to breathe as the tags acted as a barrier. As the poison cloud cleared Sasuke saw a figure standing on one of the roves. He was 6 feet tall and was very muscular. He had tanned skin and no hair. He had small grey eyes and a short black goatee. He wore no shirt only navy pants similar to the ones that the Jonin of the leaf wore and the usual black ninja sandals. His chest was covered in battle scars and wounds. His mere presence was intimidating; but nothing prepared the 3 Konohan's for the sharp baritone voice he spoke with.

"So, I see I have some ninja opponents. Well I guess I'll have to deal with you personally." He made 3 hand signs unknown to the team.

"Ninja art poison rain." His poison cloud ascended; turned into droplets and rained around Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke and burned the ground around them. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and ran towards Shujimetsu with his katana. As he landed on the roof; Shujimetsu blasted him off with another poison cloud but it was as solid as a brick wall. Naruto threw kunai's while Sakura smashed the ground with her monstrous strength and managed to collapse the house Shujimetsu stood on. Sakura ran towards him and threw shuriken in his direction, but they were all deflected as he made poison senbone to clash with the shuriken.

The team had been fighting Shujimetsu for several hours and hadn't made a single scratch on him. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were exhausted and ran out of ideas. Every muscle in Sakura's body ached as she breathed heavily. Sasuke took one last breath and ran towards him with his Sharingan flashing as he almost ran out of chakra. He stabbed him with his katana but as he tried to pull his sword out it wouldn't move. Shujimetsu turned violet and turned into poison that wrapped itself around Sasuke and held a tight grip around his neck. It was a poison clone. As Sasuke screamed in pain the real Shujimetsu appeared next his clone and held a poison katana pointed at Sasuke with a sadistic smile on his face. Sakura panicked and tried to help Sasuke; so she sent another earth shattering punch into the ground; which destroyed the clone and sent the real Shujimetsu into a brick wall. Sasuke managed to escape; he nodded at her as a show of thanks. After Sakura helped Sasuke escape; Sasuke was unaware that his poison-detection tag was ripped off.

Sakura noticed something about Shujimetsu and the way he fought. He never let his opponents get within a certain distance from him. When Sasuke landed on the roof; he was blasted off immediately and again when Sasuke stabbed the clone. He only revealed himself when he was sure Sasuke was stuck.

" _He must be a long distance fighter, which is why he kept us a certain distance away from him. He must be bad at close combat like Taijutsu. If we can just make it past his defences we could take him out easily. Naruto and I are close range_ _fighters and Sasuke is the perfect balance of both which gives us the advantage."_ She thought to herself. She worked out a plan in her head and ran to tell the others.

She ran to Naruto as fast as she could. Shujimetsu didn't let her get there easily. On her way over he launched a whole arsenal of poison attacks. Sakura dodged, zig-zagged, front-flipped, back flipped, ducked, jumped and fell into splits as she avoided his attacks. Naruto listened intently to the plan; he didn't want to miss a single detail; but just as Sakura finished speaking, a poison clone wrapped itself around her and held a kunai to her neck. The real Shujimetsu recovered from his impact from the wall and appeared behind Naruto. He locked his arms around him and began squeezing.

Everytime Naruto struggled his iron grip only got tighter. Just when it looked like the end for Naruto he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. It was Naruto's shadow clone that got caught. Shujimetsu looked completely dumbfounded and ran to his clone to finish off Sakura but she had a light blue sphere of chakra in her right hand and suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared. After the smoke vanished it was Naruto who launched himself at Shujimetsu from the cloud of smoke. His giant rasengan knocked the wind right out of Shujimetsu and sent him flying into one of the ramen stands. There was a huge bloody wound on his stomach and blood dripped from the edges of his mouth as he staggered back to the fighting area. Just as he took his last step; two fists broke out of the ground right under him. Both fists sent mind blowing punches under his chin. Naruto and Sakura landed next to each other held their fists. As Shujimetsu stood; disorientated from the blows he had received from the two leaf shinobi, Sasuke flipped off the roof and kicked him to the ground.

Shujimetsu spoke from his position on the ground with a grin on his face.

"Very clever leaf ninja; you allowed your shadow clone to get caught and used a substitution to transform your second shadow clone into your female teammate." He deduced as he looked at Naruto, and then continued to speak "Then as soon as I lowered my guard; you used your chakra attack against me and sent me right where you wanted me… into that food stall. So as soon as I walked back, the real you and your teammate hid underground and waited for me to stand above the two of you so you could strike me down. Ingenious, and just when I thought you couldn't surprise me anymore the Uchiha knocks me off my feet. Very well done, I definitely underestimated you." Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke looked at him and breathed heavily for the battle had drained most of their chakra. Shujimetsu observed the three exhausted shinobi and focused his attention on Sasuke. His grin grew into a maniacal smile accompanied by sadistic laughter. In the blink of an eye he was gone.

"Ninja art- poison needle shower" the jutsu began immediately and made its way towards Sasuke.

"Without that poison-detection tag, the Uchiha is finished." Sasuke looked down at his arm completely shocked; he hadn't noticed that his tag had fallen off during battle. Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke with panic written all over their faces. There was no time to react, the poison needles moved too quickly to catch up to or to avoid. They were on target to Sasuke who stood, katana in hand. Sakura knew he couldn't block all of them or catch up to him in time to help but she ran anyway. Every muscle in her legs burned as she ran to him, she had no chakra left and she was exhausted but she still had the will to try and get to Sasuke. She watched the needles get closer and closer to Sasuke as she ran until…

Blood spilled and stained the ground, the needles had made contact and left multiple flesh wounds and entered the body. The effects of the poison took place almost immediately; visibility and stability were difficult to maintain until the limit was reached.

Sakura fell to the ground. Her blood continued to spill out of her as she moaned and screamed in pain from the poison that coursed through her veins. She made it just in time… just in time to give her life for Sasuke… as planned. Sasuke watched Sakura fall in front of him. Sasuke, blinded by rage ran at full speed towards Shujimetsu with the Chidori surging all around the blade of the katana and struck him down. He died instantly. Sasuke ran back to Sakura and put her in his lap as he tried to help her. Naruto and Sasuke felt helpless as they watched Sakura suffer with tears in their eyes. Sakura writhed and shook violently as the poison got to its final stages.

"Sakura, Sakura can you hear me!" Sasuke yelled as he tried to get through to her. Her reply was a blood curdling scream that made the hairs on Naruto and Sasuke's neck stand on end.

"She's not responding!" Naruto panicked

"Make it stop, please. It burns, help me please!" she screamed at them as tears spilled from her eyes. She took Sasuke and Naruto's hands and squeezed as she tried to deal with the pain. Every cell in her body felt like it was on fire and her heart felt like it was being pounded by a hammer. Naruto and Sasuke felt tortured as they felt Sakura's grip on their hands and watched her suffer. After a few minutes Sakura stopped squirming and her grip on Naruto and Sasuke's hands loosened. Her breathing became laboured and she was covered in sweat. Her voice was hoarse and soft as she spoke.

"Naruto, Sasuke… I'm sorry…I d-don't have enough ch-chakra to heal myself…" her eyelids drooped.

"Don't say that Sakura, you're gunna be fine." he tried to hold back his tears as he spoke to her. Sakura smiled at his efforts, Naruto's tears had long since escaped his eyes; he couldn't handle seeing her in pain. He wanted nothing more than to help her. He reached into his pocket but before he could pull out what he wanted Sakura looked at him and shook her head. Sasuke hadn't noticed the communication between them.

" _Sakura because you're the only medical ninja on the team I want you to be extremely careful. You can't afford to get a single cut. Boys I'm trusting you to protect her." Lady Tsunade warned them._ Lady Tsunade's voice played in her head again and again. _"I'm sorry milady."_ She thought in her head.

"No, I'm not going to be okay. I l-love you g-guys so much…" one final tear slid down her cheek. She squeezed their hands one final time before she let go and closed her eyes. Sasuke had no control of his tears as they slid down his cheeks. He felt a combination of sadness and frustration. He was sad because he had just got Sakura back; he hadn't had enough time with her. But he was frustrated because she was another person that he had lost; he trained for years and refused to lose another person close to him yet he let Sakura slip through his fingers. He would never forgive himself. He sent a scream of pain into the night and heard it fade away into the distance.

"I guess we won't be needing this afterall." Naruto half whispered. Sasuke looked at the object Naruto held in his hand.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked

"It's an antidote that neutralises all kinds of poison." Naruto answered. Sasuke was furious and surprised to say the least. Naruto had the antidote with him the entire time and didn't use it to save Sakura.

"Are you telling me that you had the antidote the entire time and you didn't use it?!" Sasuke's sharingan turned on immediately as he yelled at Naruto.

"You think I didn't want to, I couldn't use it on her!"

"And why the hell not?!" Sasuke yelled at him "Because she made me promise her not to; she planned to give up her life for yours from the beginning!" Naruto shot back as he got emotional. Sasuke froze; he couldn't process what Naruto had just said. He heard him but he never understood. Sakura gave up her life… on purpose?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Their lives…without her**

The journey back to the Konoha was terrible; Naruto and Sasuke hadn't said a word to each other on their 2 day walk back. Sasuke carried Sakura's body home. He refused to leave it there; at the place she died so painfully. He wanted her in her home town where friends and family could remember her.

1 hour later

Lady Tsunade summoned Naruto and Sasuke to her office.

"Naruto, Sasuke where's Sakura; what's your status, was the mission successful?" She raised an eyebrow at them. The two of them just looked at the floor, too despondent to answer.

"Well?" she asked as she grew impatient.

"The mission was a success, but the cost was too high…Sakura's dead." Naruto bluntly stated

"What do you mean she's dead, you two were supposed to protect her!" she yelled as she slammed her hands on her desk and stood up. She was furious that her student hadn't returned from the mission.

"You think we didn't try; it wasn't in our control! At least, it wasn't in mine." Sasuke shot back as he glared at Naruto. Lady Tsunade looked from Sasuke to Naruto.

"What is he talking about?" she asked. Naruto took a while to answer

"Sakura made an antidote for the poison and gave it to me. She told me only to use it if I or Sasuke got poisoned. She made me promise her not to use it if she got hurt, but when I saw her in so much pain I tried to give her the antidote but she told me not to." Naruto explained as he began to cry. The guilt of not helping his best friend brought up all his emotions. He couldn't take it anymore; before Lady Tsunade could say another word Naruto ran out the door. Sasuke watched him leave before he left.

The weather suited the overall mood of Naruto and Sasuke. The afternoon brought in storm clouds and heavy rain. Naruto watched the rain beat down on his window as he thought about Sakura; he would never see her again. He would never hear her laugh again or see her warm smile. He held his picture of the three of them and just stared at Sakura. He thought about the day Lady Tsunade gave them their mission to the land of tea. They were scheduled to leave in an hours' time; Naruto went to Sakura's house after he finished his packing for the mission.

" _Here Naruto, I want you to keep this safe."_

" _Okay, what is it?" He asked her_

" _It's an antidote that can neutralise all kinds of poison."_

" _Why do you want me to keep it? I'm not the best person to hold important things."_

" _If I keep it I'll be tempted to use it; and if Sasuke keeps it his first instinct will be to use it on me if I get poisoned."_

" _Of course he would, he cares about you. We both do; and besides what makes you think I wouldn't do the same thing." He looked at her with a confused expression_

" _Because I want you to promise me that you won't use it on me." She answered him very seriously_

" _What are you talking about, Sakura. If I don't use it on you and you get poisoned, you'll die."_

" _Exactly. I'm going to give up my life for Sasuke." Naruto couldn't take it seriously, why would Sakura even consider such a thing._

" _What! Why, Sakura are you crazy!" He raised his voice_

" _You wouldn't understand Naruto! I already lost Sasuke once, I would rather give up my life than lose him again!" she yelled with a trembling voice. Naruto walked to Sakura and put his hands on her shoulders as he tried to talk her out of her crazy idea._

" _Sasuke isn't going to get poisoned. He's really strong; he can more than take care of himself."_

" _I know he's strong but this ninja was the best from his clan and now he's gone rogue." She began to cry and buried her face in Naruto's chest._

" _Zabuza was a rogue ninja too and look how that turned out." He said as he stroked her hair_

" _Exactly, look how that turned out; we all thought Sasuke died when he threw himself in front of you to protect you from Haku's senbone" She looked up at him with her tear stained face and a pained expression on her face. She had really thought her idea through. Naruto looked into her teary jade eyes and saw pain and sorrow. Just by her eyes Naruto could tell that Sakura had really suffered without Sasuke; that everyday had been difficult for her. He wished he could have been there for her more._

" _But Sakura…" he silently spoke as he began to cry as he knew he had to do it for her._

" _Naruto please, I'm begging you…promise me you won't use it on me, please." She begged as she put her hands on Naruto's face and brought his forehead against hers and spoke with her eyes closed._

" _I have to do this." She whispered. Naruto didn't answer her he just pulled her into a tight hug and continued to cry as he promised her. Sakura placed her arms around his neck and hugged him back. The two of them stood in silence as they were embraced in each other's arms for they knew it would be their last time. Before she pulled away she pecked Naruto on the lips._

Naruto put his fingers on his lips where Sakura kissed him. That was the last time he had spent time with her before their mission began. A knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts. When he went see who it was; he opened the door to see a sad Hinata. He stood aside and let her walk in; he closed the door behind her. Naruto and Hinata stared at each other in a deafening silence for a long time; both had tears in their eyes. After an eternity of silent stares Naruto pulled Hinata into tight hug as tears continued to pour from his eyes. Naruto needed a shoulder to cry on; he was glad Hinata came when she did. Hinata knew Naruto needed someone and tightened her embrace on Naruto. She looked up at him and saw his light blue eyes filled with regret. They looked into each other's eyes until they leaned in; eventually their lips met in a long and gentle kiss. After they separated Naruto sighed and smiled at Hinata with his hands intertwined with hers before he spoke. "Thanks Hinata." She smiled at him and put her arms back around him as she hugged him again.

2 weeks later

Sasuke took a walk around the village and continuously thought about Sakura. His head was filled with all the memories he had with her. The memory he thought about the most was when they were on the mission; just after Sakura woke up when she fainted.

" _I thought I was supposed to the one resting and recovering." She spoke with her eyes closed._

" _You are; but nobody said that I couldn't, especially when I have you in my lap." He replied before he kissed her on the cheek and held her in a tight hug._ That was the last time he had a private moment with her. Naruto found Sasuke next to the bench by the academy. Sasuke was not happy to see Naruto in the slightest.

"Go away." He flatly stated. Naruto stood in place and looked at Sasuke.

"You obviously don't feel any remorse for what you did-"

"Do you honestly think that I don't feel remorse? I've never felt this guilty in my entire life. I didn't just lose a teammate. I lost a best friend and a sister." Naruto replied.

"What do you want?" he asked and got tired of their conversation. He didn't want to talk about their loss of Sakura anymore.

"This is a letter from Sakura to you." Naruto knew he had Sasuke's attention as soon as he mentioned the letter. Sasuke turned around and looked at the letter in Naruto's hand before he took it. Naruto left when he saw Sasuke read the letter.

Days later Sasuke went out for another walk. His walk took him to the memorial stone; as he stared at it he went down the list of names until he found the one he was looking for. The most recent one of them all.

- _Haruno Sakura-_

He looked at her name for a long time. He never thought he would see a member of his team on the K.I.A memorial stone. He wished he could see her one last time.

 _Dear Sasuke_

 _If you're reading this letter it means that I gave my life up for you. Please don't be mad at Naruto; I made him promise not to use the antidote on me. Also, don't be sad or upset that I did this because I would do it again in second. I guess I still never got over my feelings for you. The only thing I regret is not having you back sooner and not spending enough time with you. I'm really going to miss having you next to me; your warmth comforting me and your arms protecting me. Sasuke when you came back to the village; I didn't know how to feel; I had gotten so used to not having you around and depending on Naruto. The biggest problem was that the desire for you was there but the need wasn't; so I pursued you but not wholeheartedly. I admit that I went after you because I had wanted you for so many years and when you came back I made myself believe that I needed you because you wanted me. I do still love you though. I just didn't want to lose you again especially when you confessed to me. I did that because I was selfish and I'm sorry. But I believe that you never really loved me; I think you had a situation of not wanting to lose me again; but I don't think the love was ever really there. With you Sasuke blinded by revenge and hatred; you never got a chance to actually live; you always seemed to just survive. You didn't live your life to the fullest for the people you cared about; you survived for yourself to achieve your goal. But now things have changed. I pray that through my death you can finally live._

 _Goodbye Sasuke; no matter what happens I have always loved you and I always will love you._

 _Forever yours Sakura_

Sasuke read the letter for the third time since he had arrived at the memorial stone. Sasuke noticed that someone was behind him.

"Why Naruto, why would she do this for me?"

"Because Sasuke; even after everything you put her through she still loved you. She talked about you everyday. And the thing is; she wasn't like you; when her trust was betrayed she didn't give up and close herself off. She always remained vulnerable because she believed that people could change. She didn't give up after one incident of mistrust; she didn't let that destroy everything she had. Instead she got determined to fix everything because she didn't want to lose what she had. The people she had were important to her, you included. That's why she tried to find you; that's why she would do anything to protect important people; even give up her own life. She really learned a lot about herself while you were gone. Back then when she wasn't very good on missions she realised that what she was best at wasn't fighting, but protecting. And that's exactly how she died, protecting you. So don't look at it as she failed the mission because she didn't come back, because in terms of Sakura this was her most successful mission because she achieved her goal; protecting someone precious to her." He explained

Sasuke took in every word Naruto said but didn't say anything. Naruto knew Sasuke wanted to be alone so without another word he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke looked at the letter one last time and thought about what Naruto said. He couldn't disagree more with what Sakura said in her letter. He smiled in frustration as a tear slid down his cheek.

" _Typical Sakura, she reads into situations then places her own judgement above everyone else's"_ He thought to himself _._ Sasuke was a closed off person and never really showed much emotion; that much was true. But there was something Sakura didn't realise… it was something _ **she**_ would never know…

"You were wrong Sakura, if there's one thing you'll never know; it's how much you really meant to me…you'll never know how much _ **I**_ really loved you."


End file.
